The shooting star by Shivya Nath – A book review and recommendation

A girl, her backpack, and the world at her footsteps!
The Shooting Star – by Shivya Nath

“I watched in awe, and despite the cup of hot chocolate in my hand, my mouth watered. My heart fluttered knowing that I could never eat chocolate again without thinking of a big stone crushing the beans and a course hand spinning the machine.”

That’s what travel does, doesn’t it? Meeting and learning about new cultures, histories, people. Learning, unlearning, and learning again about the richness of humanity in places with no government, no differences, only harmony and peace, and the wilderness.

What does a girl do when she has no roof over her head, no materialistic possessions, just a backpack, dreams in her eyes, and the world ahead of her? Where does she go? What does home mean to her?

When I first started journaling my travel journeys around the world, Shivya was the first Influencer I followed from my new Instagram profile. Her pictures defied everything the other travel bloggers were posting. Her captions didn’t paint the destination with poetic musings. They were rather simple, realistic pictures with informative captions about travel and self-discovery. I knew about her journeys through her travel blog, until I read her book, only to understand her as a whole being.

‘The shooting star’ is a book written by ‘a twenty-something girl who quit her corporate job to travel the world’. How many times have we read this headline before? Seems like, every other person off late is quitting his/her job in exchange to travel. But there is something that brings Shivya apart from the rest of the world. Her realism in a world that loves to glamorize travel is one of the many stand-alone points about this book.

‘The shooting star’ is a memoir of her personal, off the hook journey into unchartered territories across the map. This book takes us through a journey of travel, adventures, sudden encounters, nostalgic childhood moments molding her perspective toward life and humanity. Shivya is a traveler, an explorer, and a digital nomad, working with rather rare communities in the most secluded parts of the world. She takes you through the stretches of the rann of Kutch in India to the last indigenous communities in Costa Rica. She teaches you to take a leap of faith and trust your instincts on unknown lands. Braving away broken myths of female-solo-travel in India and across borders, travel for her is free will.

In the book, she talks about how her family questions her intentions, how she realizes, after plenty of introspection, that she is made for the road less traveled. She shows you how your choices can make and break you. She contemplates her past decisions, asks questions of self-discovery, and chooses to travel over her well-paying job, her comfortable home, and her mundane routine. Her conversations with locals from across the world reflect upon her discovering her true self. She proudly boasts her unconventional lifestyle and works on creating opportunities for people wherever she steps foot.

“You will never be completely at home again because a part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

Shivya found bliss in traveling, fulfillment in going solo, and a home in every place she steps foot in. The shooting star is not some teenage travel journal. It is a book written with conscious and motivating words of desire, compassion, and love for life. Shivya’s writing is less informative and more intuitive, inspiring, introspective.

A little girl from Dehradun, a small hill-station in India, who grew up amidst competing classmates to competing colleagues, soon turned into an entrepreneur, fighting concerns from a rather conservative family. As a travel blogger, Shivya came on to rise as a 23-year-old on Instagram. Following the footsteps of creative and informative storytelling, this young Indian woman broke all cultural knots and societal barriers to define her own life on her own terms. This is a story like no other. This is a book that might give you the courage to follow your own passion.

Why I love this book

As you journey with this young lady, you’ll realize how the girl next door happened to be India’s number 1 female travel blogger, connecting humankind with storytelling. On a scale of 1-5, this book is a 4.8 for me. Now, I am not someone who quit her job to travel the world, but this book inspires me every time I think of going down or giving up on my dreams. This book will particularly resonate with travelers, digital nomads, and explorers. The shooting star compels you to see the whole world with a deeper perspective and travel with sustainability.

Now if you are not a reader, this is the perfect book to start with. It is short, it is of simple language and most of all it is a story that will inspire you at the end of every chapter.

Happy reading folks!

Also, while we are on the topic of travel books, check out my post – Top 5 travel books you should absolutely read.

Tell me how you liked this book in the comments below. If you have any more book suggestions, shoot them out down here too. Looking forward to more inspirational books!

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STAY SAFE FOLKS. WEAR THAT MASK.

Tonnes of love and hugs from across the world ~ Sak!

#whereizmyboardingpass